Dennis Rodman tells Kim Jong-Un they will be friends forever on North Korea visit

New besties North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un and former NBA star Dennis Rodman watch North Korean and US players in an exhibition basketball game at an arena in Pyongyang, North Korea. Picture: AP/VICE Media Source: AP

EX-NBA star Dennis Rodman met North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un on the third day of his improbable journey to Pyongyang, telling the leader "You have a friend for life," a delegation spokesman said.

Rodman and Kim sat side-by-side at an exhibition game in Pyongyang, chatting as they watched players from North Korea and the US play on mixed teams, Alex Detrick, a spokesman for the New York-based VICE media company, told The Associated Press.

Kim, a diehard basketball fan, told Rodman he hoped the visit would break the ice between the US and North Korea, Mr Detrick said. Kim later invited the Americans to dinner.

The encounter makes Rodman the most high-profile American to meet with the young North Korean leader since Kim took power in December 2011, and takes place against a backdrop of tension between Washington and Pyongyang.

North Korea conducted an underground nuclear test just two weeks ago, making clear the provocative act was aimed at sending a warning to the US to drop what it considers a "hostile" policy toward the North. The two countries fought each other during the Korean War, and do not have diplomatic relations.

Rodman arrived in Pyongyang on Monday with three members of the professional Harlem Globetrotters basketball team, VICE correspondent Ryan Duffy and a VICE production crew to shoot a documentary for a new HBO TV series.

The surprise visit by the flamboyant Hall of Famer known as "The Worm" makes him an unlikely ambassador at a time when North Koreans are girding for battle with the US. Just last week, Kim guided frontline troops in military exercises.

Former Chicago Bulls star Rodman and Kim Jong-Un to hit it off while taking in a Harlem Globetrotters game. Rodman was seen clutching a Coke can, in a rare sign of American pop culture in the sheltered nation. Picture: AP/VICE Media

The Korean War ended in a truce in 1953, and the two foes never signed a peace treaty.

Thursday's game in a packed gymnasium ended in a 110-110 draw, with two Americans playing on each team alongside North Koreans, Mr Detrick said.

After the game, Rodman addressed Kim in a speech before a crowd of tens of thousands of North Koreans, telling him, "You have a friend for life," Mr Detrick said.

The leader later plied the group with liquor, according to VICE TV producer Jason Mojica.

"Um ... so Kim Jong Un just got the (hash)VICEonHBO crew wasted ... no really, that happened," Mojica wrote on his Twitter feed from Pyongyang.

Duffy later invited Kim to visit the US, a proposal met with hearty laughter from the North Korean leader, Mr Detrick said.

Rodman wore dark glasses and a hat, Chinese agency Xinhua said, and sat to the left of Kim. They spoke to each other without any interpretation, according to the report.

Rodman arrived in Pyongyang on Tuesday with members of the Globetrotters on a goodwill visit to engage in "basketball diplomacy".

Rodman has been actively tweeting during the visit, saying he was looking forward to meeting Kim, that North Koreans love basketball and that he was "honoured" to represent the United States.

Rodman poses with three members of the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team, in red jerseys, and a production crew for the media upon arrival at Pyongyang Airport, North Korea (AP Photo/Kim Kwang Hyon)

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